ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER
FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR
1ST APRIL 1948 TO 31ST
1948 TO 31ST MARCH, 1949.
ANNUAL REPORT
of the
PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER
for the financial year 1st April, 1948 to 31st March, 1949.
1. 1948-49 saw further staff changes in the Public Relations office.
2. In August Mr. W. Gordon Harmon, o.B.E., arrived to assume the post of Public Relations Officer and Mrs. E. N. Davis, who had held the post in an acting capacity, became European Assistant Public Relations Officer, later to be joined by Mr. King Yu-lo as Chinese Assistant Public Relations Officer.
3. The death of Mr. Chung, Executive Officer in charge of accounts, in January deprived the office of a faithful employee whose longstanding ill-health had handicapped him in his work. He was succeeded by Mr. Chin Sit Kee, transferred from the G.P.O., who has straightened out a rather confused state of affairs and made the Accounts and General Office a model of efficiency.
4. Lack of staff, finance, office accommodation and equip- ment have proved a very severe handicap to projects for expansion of the work. The accommodation situation is improving, but there is a desparate need for increased and better qualified staff and equipment.
GOVERNMENT BULLETIN.
5. Mr. King Yu-lo has been responsible for the production of a Government Bulletin. This is a daily broadsheet written in the simplest Chinese and appearing in large print. It is designed for the less literate Chinese and is posted on boards erected in the New Territories, Kowloon and the island in places where the maximum number of Chinese can see it. Government notices, extracts from the Gazette, contradictions of rumours and false reports appearing in papers fill the sheet. All schools are sent copies free and as a result of a questionnaire it is estimated that some 6,000 students read the Bulletin daily. In addition there are the readers of the Bulletin posted on the notice boards, and there are several hundred subscribers at 5c a copy. At present 1,000 copies are issued daily, but this could easily be expanded indefinitely.
PRESS.
6. The co-operation of almost all the Press has been much appreciated.
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PRESS RELEASE.
7. During the year under review Government expenditure on Public Notices which passed through the Public Relations Office amounted to $75,628.80. This was made up as seen at Appendix À.
DAILY SUMMARIES.
8. Daily summaries in English from the vernacular press have improved in quality and increased in quantity though the quality still leaves much to be desired. The demand for these summaries has also increased until we have had to refuse applica- tious from commercial houses and foreign press correspondents. One of the urgent reasons for requiring an increased staff is to improve the quality and the amount of material translated.
LECTURE ROOM.
9. This has developed into an essential feature of the Colony, many associations and organisations requesting the use of the room for lectures, conferences and exhibitions. There is an intention to enlarge this Lecture Room but it will not be as popular as it should be whilst there is no air-conditioning; in the summer months temperatures of well over 85° are registered in the room. Only shortage of staff prevents frequent use of the room for the showing of 16 m.m. cinema films, though a few shows have been given during the year.
PRESS CONFERENCE ROOM.
10. This room had to be converted into an office for the Public Relations Officer owing to the lack of other accommodation and it is urgently necessary that another room should be set aside for Press Conferences and equipped with a telephone and reference books for correspondents. At present press conferences are held in the Lecture Room, but this room is not suitable as it lacks the intimacy of a small room, has no table at which reporters can take notes and is frequently in use for other purposes when a press con- ference is required.
11. There have been 37 Press Conferences held during the past year. Many of these were given by Heads of Departments and others by visitors to the Colony.
READING ROOM.
12. The reading room is very well patronised by Chinese who wish to read the vernacular papers and to sleep or get out of the rain. The room could be of much greater value if there were more periodicals and publications in Chinese, or if there was sufficient staff to translate briefly some of the letter press in such publica- tions as 'Illustrated London News' etc. It is difficult to assess the real value of the Reading Room. Its potential value is very great and if the material provided for reading and equipment (chairs, tables etc.) were improved, the room would cater more for the enquirer than it does at present.
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13. One valuable asset is its attraction to the passer-by who, on entering the room, can appreciate the photographs and posters that adorn the walls. The material is not all that could be desired, but it does illustrate the British way of life.
DISTRIBUTION OF MATERIAL FROM CENTRAL OFFICE
OF INFORMATION.
14. Both the quantity and the distribution remains very much the same as the previous year. We still lack sufficient staff to be able to translate all that we should. Therefore written material in English has a limited circulation.
FILMS.
15. With the co-operation of the Education Department we were able to organise a series of film programmes for school children. These took place during the months of September to December, every Saturday morning and were shown at the King's, Queen's, Lee, Tai Ping and the Prince's Theatre. The programmes were selected to appeal to various age groups and the approximate number of children who attended was 41,310.
We had 38
16. During the months of October to January we showed in the P.R.O. Theatre the film 'Desert Victory'. performances and the total attendance was 2,650.
17. There has been an increasing use of 16 m.m. films. We have had 369 films out on loan this year. We have also been able to assist the British Council with the use of our films to illustrate some of their lectures.
18. It is hoped that this year would see the Public Relations Office in possession of a Mobile Film Unit. Had we had this we should have been able to put our films to even greater use and certainly covered a much larger territory.
19. The theatre has been used on 37 occasions for meetings and exhibitions.
VISITORS.
20. As a result of the steady deterioration of the situation in China, this office has had an increasing number of visitors, most of whom were correspondents and others at first proceeding to China, and later returning together with many others who sought to leave China and either passed through Hong Kong or decided to settle, at least for the time being, in Hong Kong to watch developments in China. During a period of two weeks the P.R.O. personally had an average of 12 visitors a day, and the European Assistant P.R.O. had very nearly as many.
W. GORDON HARMON, Public Relations Officer.
NEWSPAPER ADVERTISING
In the English and Chinese Press for the period April, 1948-March, 1949.
English Press
Chinese Press
Total
Month
S.C.M. Post China Mail
Wah Kiu
Sing Tao
Kung Sheung
Others
1948
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
LA
April May June
620.25
510.00
699.00
975.00
828.00
2.047.75
1.588.50
1,570.50
1.524.00
1.467.00
3.632.25 8.197.75
3.008.25
2,399.00
1.924.50
2.003.75
1,617.00
282.00
11.234.50
July
August
1,602.25
1,290.00
1.456.50
1,780.00
1.620.00
7.748.75
2.001.00
1,587.15
1.641.00
1.985.00
1.965.00
63.00
9.242.15
September
1,450.50
1.210.50
1,057.50
1.115.00
1.026.00
5.859.50
October
1.232.75
1.063.50
867.00
675.00
588.00
November
1.207.75
987.00
669.00
725.00
639.00
December
1,584.75
1.401.30
744.50
973.60
699.00
| | |
4.426.25
4.227.75 5.403.15
1949
January
1.860.20
February
March
869.50 1.861.50
1,599.00 714.05 1.290.00
1.047.00 576.00 900.00
1.095.00
1.215.00
722.50 785.00
633.00
489.00
6.816.20
3,515.05
5,325.50
Total
19.346.45
15.640.00
13,152.50
14.358.85
12,786.00
345.00
75.628.80
Note:-English Press
$34,986.45
46%
Chinese Press
40,642.35
54%
Total for year
$75,628.80
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